It's a funny thing: people often ask how I discipline myself to write. I can't begin to understand the question. For me, the discipline is turning off the computer and leaving my desk to do something else.

Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own.

...whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. And peace will be with you.

Few people know so clearly what they want. Most people can't even think what to hope for when they throw a penny in a fountain.

Parenting is something that happens mostly while you're thinking of something else.

It's surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at the time.

There was a roaring in my ears and I lost track of what they were saying. I believe it was the physical manifestation of unbearable grief.